Hat Trick stood in front of a small dressing room within the back of Confetti & Coattails, where he was carefully examining the experimental new ensemble that he was trying on for his on-stage look.
Since he had claimed his job as a party magician, the room had become a place he quickly grew attached to. He believed he could navigate his way past the three make-up chairs and reach the changing screen with his eyes closed.
His clothes consisted of a white, button-up shirt under a purple vest with a turquoise bow tie as he placed a black scalloped cape onto his back. By his hooves were his saddlebags, filled with a collection of supplies.
“Hmm…” Hatty rubbed his chin as he examined himself in the wide mirror. “Not bad, but will it go with my hat?”
Just as the pegasus began to reach for the tophat with a question mark on it atop a nearby bust, the door to the far left of the room creaked open.
Stepping into the room was Hocus Pocus, a silver coated unicorn Hatty had been seeing a lot more since she’d moved to Vanhoover with her squad. He gave her a warm and inviting smile. “Good afternoon, Hocus. How’re things with the new house?”
“Pretty good,” Hocus Pocus calmly replied as she walked past the purple pegasus towards a changing screen at the far back corner of the room. “Toil’s turned about half the basement into a potions lab while I’ve been practicing some tricks in the other.”
Hatty lightly chuckled as he closed his eyes and fiddled with his bow tie, trying to straighten it out a little. “Good to hear. Are you still able to do that shrinking trick of yours?” As he spoke, he felt a tingle in his fur and heard a light humming coming from all around him.
Though Hatty could guess what the blonde maned mare had done, he was glad he didn’t open his eyes to check as a bright flash came from beside him.
Slowly opening up his eyes, he realized he was staring into the gigantic face of Hocus Pocus, grinning at the puny pegasus.
“A LITTLE DUSTY, BUT NEVER RUSTY.” the unicorn’s whisper echoed like the Royal Canterlot Voice, nearly blowing Hat Trick over.
Hatty chuckled lightly as he spread his wings and took off, hoping to land on the massive mare’s muzzle. “Not bad. Still, nothing beats sleight of WHOA!”
The shrunken pegasus was cut off as he found himself suddenly pulled forward by an intense wind. In an instant, he found himself tangled up in a collection of slime covered hairs within a fleshy tunnel.
As he tried to untangle himself from the unicorn’s nose hair, he felt her stumble back from his sudden unintentional intrusion.
Hat Trick frustratedly tried to pull himself from the hairs as the mare’s breath pushed and pulled him.
“AH… AHH…” The tangled stallion knew what the thunderous noise signaled and closed his eyes to brace himself for the coming onslaught.
“AHHHHCHHHOOOOOOOOOO!!!”
The purple pegasus felt himself being swept away by an explosive wind greater than any storm he had felt in the past. He knew he was spiraling through the air before he felt his back colliding with a smooth, hard surface.
“SORRY SORRY sorry!” The echoing voice quickly grew quieter as the hum of magic filled the pegasus ears and he weakly opened his eyes. He saw Hocus Pocus with her horn covered in a violet light and a deeply apologetic look on her face as she hurried over to him. “Are you okay?”
“Other than now knowing a sample of what Verdant goes through is like, alright,” Hat Trick replied as he slid off the make-up counter he was sitting on, resisting the urge to shake like a damp dog. “You’re lucky I’ve got spares of this outfit.”
“Sorry. This is the first time that has ever happened,” Hocus quickly and apologetically said, giving the pegasus a chance to take in the clothes she had donned behind the screen.
She was wearing a similar white shirt to him under a black jacket with white cuffs and a purple bow tie.
“So, think you’re ready to give Mrs. Flare a demonstration of your skills?” Hatty asked as he started to take off his now slime covered clothes and wipe his face with his hoof.
“Yeah, though I shouldn’t have gone to Al’s and tried the ‘breakfast burrito’,” the mare said as she placed a hoof over her belly. “I’m not sure if it’s nerves or if I just had a bad breakfast that won’t sit.”
“Well, I think you’ll be able to impress her without much hassle,” the stallion said as he pulled fresh clothes from his saddlebags. “Though a word of advice: foals like to throw stuff, so you’d better learn to either dodge or better yet, catch their stuff.”
“Got it.” the silver unicorn nodded as the door creaked open once more.
Stepping into the room was a tired-looking peach colored earth pony with a long and flowing blonde mane. She didn’t pay much attention to Hatty and Hocus as she tossed down her yellow saddlebags covered with black X’s and dots.
“Ah, this is Showtime Spectacular, A.K.A. Slippy Shoes the Clown,” Hatty said as he started to slip into his back-up clothes while Showtime pulled a large make-up kit from her bags. “Should you get this job, she’ll be one of your co-workers.”
“Nice to meet you, Showtime,” Hocus said with a warm smile before she held out a hoof to the mare just as she started to apply white make-up to her face. “I’m sure you must love this job.”
“I’d honestly be getting screwed less if I went into porn,” the brown-eyed earth pony gloomily said, ignoring Hocus Pocus’ hoof.
“Don’t worry about her too much,” Hat Trick said before gently patting the unicorn on the back. “When she’s like this, it just means she didn’t have her coffee this morning.”
“I blame my roommate,” Showtime spoke up, her face almost completely covered in white make-up as she pulled a frizzy crimson wig and a bright red rubber nose from her bag. “Still, at least I don’t have a costume that looks like it’s designed to draw ponies’ eyes to my ass.”
To her surprise, Hocus Pocus tittered at her comment. The silver colored unicorn then made her way to the door. “I designed it to look like that. It makes the distraction part of sleight of hoof so much easier.”
Hocus gave a quick shake of her flank before tossing the door open. “Wish me luck.”
“Break a leg!” Hatty said just as Hocus stepped out and headed towards the storage and practice area Flare had set up a couple months prior.
Just as the door clicked shut behind her, Hatty’s attention was drawn to his co-worker as she sighed while slipping into a clown suit that looked like an explosion in a rainbow factory. She then donned her wig and put the fake nose onto her face.
“Once more unto the breach, to face the slings and arrows of life,” Showtime overdramatically said before she took a deep breath. An instant after she exhaled, she quickly stood up.
“C’mon, Hatty! We’ve got a party for a pair of twins named Slippers and Flippers at Eighteen, Singalong Street!” In a sharp contrast to how she normally spoke, Showtime spoke in a rather goofy sounding clown voice, having fully slipped into her Slippy Shoes persona.
Hatty merely rolled his eyes as the mare darted out of the room like a ferret on a sugar rush before following along behind her.
***
A little over an hour and a half later, Hatty and Showtime had finished the party and had nearly returned to the shop. While Hatty was in good condition, save for a few strawberry pudding stains on his cape, Showtime, while still in her full clown regalia, trotted along with an ice pack against her right eye and carried a pizza box on her back.
“Pigeons are now on my list of mortal enemies,” she said in a venomous tone Hatty knew she normally only brought out when she’d stubbed her hoof. “They’re right above cranberries, but below squirrels.”
“At least they gave you one of the pizzas.” Hat Trick rolled his eyes yet again as his eyes fell upon the form of a light gray unicorn mare with a red, orange and yellow mane that sharply contrasted her green, blue and purple tail. The unicorn stood by the door as she read from an old looking book.
“Hey there, Prism!” Hatty called out to the unicorn mare, drawing her attention and earning a warm smile from her.
“Good afternoon, Hat Trick,” the noblemare said as Showtime paid her no mind and slipped back into Confetti & Coattails. “How has your day been?”
“Nothing too out of the ordinary,” the pegasus replied as she slipped her book into her saddlebags without bothering to place a mark or even dog-earing it. “I’m just waiting for Hocus to tell me how her interview went.”
“If I were a betting stallion, I’d say she’s got the part and Fiesta’s now giving her a tour of the place,” Hat Trick said as he looked into the shop’s windows, only seeing Tuxedo Tails behind the register.
“That’s a relief to hear,” Prism said as out of the corner of his eye, Hat Trick spotted Hocus and Fiesta Flare coming from behind one of the shop’s aisles, a broad smile on her face. “Though honestly, I’m simply glad I’m able to count myself among the few guards to survive the empire, much less alongside a family member.”
“Yeah, I don’t think many of the surviving guards had any of their family come with them,” the pegasus said as he saw Hocus reaching the door and starting to push it open.
“To my knowledge, the only ones fortunate enough to have a close family member survive with them are Hocus Pocus and I, Fleetfeather and Wind Whistler, Storm Cloud and Lightning Javelin, and Toil ‘N Trouble and Ver—”
The prismatic-maned mare was suddenly cut off by a violet aura that slammed her muzzle shut. Looking past her shoulder, Hatty saw Hocus Pocus with a panicked look on her face with her horn glowing brightly.
“Excuse us, Hatty, but Prism and I need to have a word before we go for dinner,” Hocus Pocus shakily said before taking her sister and herself into a nearby alleyway.
While the purple pegasus could make out a series of rapid and harsh whispers coming from the alleyway, what he had heard before was much more important to the pegasus as he made his way back into the store, a stunned expression on his face.
***
In the small laundry room of the manor, Hat Trick tossed his soiled clothes into the washer just before he heard the front door opening. Briefly glancing out into the entryway, he saw the emerald-coated earth pony closing the door behind him.
“Hey, Verdant,” the pegasus said as he turned the dial on the washer and activated the machine. “Could I talk to you for a moment?”
“Sure thing,” Verdant replied before he slipped his saddlebags off and hung them on a coat rack.
“Let’s talk about this upstairs,” Hat Trick quietly said as he approached the earth pony. “I don’t want the others to hear this.”
“Oh?” Verdant tilted his head in confusion as Hat Trick flew up the stairs. A moment later, Verdant arrived at the top of the stairs and led the pegasus into his room. “So what’s up, Hatty?”
The pegasus sighed before his wings nervously twitched. “This is gonna be awkward, but… are you and Toil related?”
“What?” Verdant asked with a chuckle as he hopped onto his bed. “Hatty, that’s crazy. She’s of noble blood and my family was made up of commoners. Besides the fact we’re both green, what would make you think we’re related?”
“Prismatic Radiance let it slip earlier and Hocus Pocus quickly tried to silence her.” The pegasus’ reply made the amused look instantly fall from Verdant’s face as he gave him a flat look.
“Oh…” Verdant tiredly sighed and ran a hoof through his mane.
“Verdant, is it true?” the pegasus asked as he cautiously drew closer to the earth pony.
“Yeah, it is,” Verdant answered as he looked the purple pegasus in the eye. “Toil ‘N Trouble is my half-sister on my father’s side.”
“I’m just… I’m stunned to hear this, Verdant,” Hat Trick said as he put a hoof on Verdant’s knee. “I mean hearing she’s your sister is one thing, but the fact you kept a secret from all of us is just... unbelievable.”
“Really?” Verdant said with a mildly amused smirk on his face. “This after I kept the fact I was seeing a griffin romantically for as long as possible?”
“Ah… right.” Hatty pulled his hoof from Verdant’s knee and scratched the back of his head. “Still, I can understand why you kept dating Erica from us back then because of how we felt about griffins at the time. But what I don’t get is why you would keep the fact Toil was your sister from us.”
“This was something Toil asked me to do when the two of us were coming to Canterlot to work at Cosmos LeBlanc’s flower shop,” Verdant replied as he slid off the bed to face the pegasus. “She had been to Canterlot once before after she left Hollow Shades’ orphanage to try and find her mother… Considering the fact that ‘bitch’ was the kindest word she used to describe Moonlight Radiance, it’s safe to say it didn’t go well.”
“Ouch,” Hat Trick winced before he swallowed and looked the earth pony in the eye.
“After that, Toil came to Dream Valley and father took her in almost immediately,” Verdant mused as a small smile formed on his face. “I can remember the night I first met her like it was yesterday.
“About six years later, after we agreed with Cosmos’ to work as her apprentices, the two of us set off for the capital. Toil knew that she would likely be treated like crap by the nobles, so she told me to pretend we were strangers while she would say her clan name was Hollow Well, after the orphanage she grew up in.” Verdant took a deep breath and the smile on his face faded away. “Considering how Swift alone treats her, it looks like she was right.”
“Sadly, yeah.” Hat Trick nervously rubbed his foreleg as he recalled all the times Swift and other nobles insulted her for her bastard status. “The only nobles I don’t recall insulting her were Barrier and Prism.”
“Yeah, Prismatic Radiance was one of the few nobles I know of who treated noble bastards decently,” Verdant said as his gaze seemed to move away from the pegasus towards his door. “She and her father deeply cared about Hocus Pocus and it seems she also wasn’t too fond of how her aunt treated her daughter.”
“Ah, so that’s why Prism would know Toil’s secret.” Hatty cupped his chin with his left wing and gave it a little rub. “So, besides Prism and Hocus, does anypony else know about you and her?”
“Only a few,” Verdant replied. “Twilight and Daring learned she was my sister back when I was looking up mine and Forge’s family history because I visited her in the hospital. Erica knows since Toil let me tell her our secret.”
Slowly, Verdant brushed past Hat Trick and moved closer to the bedroom door. “And Swiftsword knows since she’s been eavesdropping on us!” Verdant barked before a scrambling of hooves came from behind the door.
After the clatter died down, the door slowly opened, revealing a rather shame-faced Swiftsword on the other side.
“Verdant… I…” The noblemare found it hard to look the earth pony in the eye. “I… I’m so sorry. I hadn’t known that—”
“Sorry Swift, but I don’t think knowing she and I were related would have improved how you treated her.” Verdant’s blunt interruption left the unicorn mare stunned. “After all, you thought it was a good idea to insult Hocus Pocus in Prism’s presence purely so you could try to gain an edge in the contest of cadets.”
“I… You are right.” Swift tilted her head so her eyes were hidden by her bangs. “I… I am truly sorry. I had no idea my actions had hurt you like this.”
“Well, now you know,” Verdant bitterly replied. “The only times Toil and I were able to act like siblings was when she was teaching me how to make potions and poisons late at night.”
“Ah, so that’s what you two were doing,” Hat Trick said before mildly chuckling. “Honestly, I thought you two were rutting or something.”
Verdant slowly turned to face the pegasus stallion with a half-lidded, unamused look.
“Right… shutting up now,” Hat Trick said before Verdant silently slipped past him and approached Swift.
“I’ve got a dinner to prep,” Verdant quietly said as he bypassed Swift and made his way towards the stairs. “Should be about thirty minutes.”
“Verdant,” Swift called out to the earth pony, but he seemed to ignore her as he descended the steps.
That night, dinner was rather awkward after Verdant confessed his and Toil’s connection. Swift tried to speak with him several times, only to be ignored.
***
Swiftsword found it next to impossible to fall asleep. Her thoughts were plagued by how Verdant was acting around her. A close friend that she deeply cared for like her own brother revealed a hurt he’d been keeping for a long time.
As hard as it is to admit, he has every right to be upset with me, the unicorn mare thought to herself as she turned in her bed, feeling far too upset and awake to find a wink of sleep.
I insulted his sister on too many occasions to recall, all for her bastard status, making me feel superior to her with my refined breeding… and yet I have never once been able to best her in a single one of the contests against each other…
Throwing off the covers, Swiftsword groaned and rose from her bed. With cat-like steps, she made her way to her window and gazed out. Beyond the backyard and the mountains off in the distance, her focus fell upon the stars that decorated the night sky.
The sun will rise in approximately forty minutes… The noblemare brought a hoof to her chin as she gazed out on Luna’s tapestry. I can’t let this rift between my friend and I last a day longer. Far too long has it festered away in the dark.
Quickly spinning about, Swiftsword turned towards her closet. Even in the light of the moon and stars, she could easily find her saddlebags and dagger. In an instant, her saddlebags were on her sides while her dagger was concealed within her mane. The last thing she took from her closet was a two-toned blue scarf that she wrapped around her neck.
Putting the stealth training Barrier had taught her to use, she hardly made a sound as she made her way to the stairs. In three quick flashes of light, the noblemare had made small teleports that brought her from the top of the stairs, to the landing and ending in front of the manor’s front door.
Note to self, teleporting on an empty stomach makes one more nauseous than on a full stomach. Making as little noise as possible, Swift opened the door and slipped out into the early morning darkness, closing the door behind her.
***
In the early rays of sunlight, Swiftsword had arrived at the large house at two-fourteen Dancing Butterflies street. The two storey house had an off white panel exterior while the roof had a few spots of dark green peeking out from under a foot of snow.
“No turning back,” Swift whispered to herself as she marched towards the door, teleporting past the birch fence that blocked her way. “A noblemare must be willing to face any challenge that faces her, whether it be fighting off a hundred griffins… or eating crow.”
Giving the royal blue wooden door a few gentle raps, Swiftsword quietly swallowed as she awaited whichever member of Squad 973 would be the one to answer her, hoping it wouldn’t be Toil, if only to delay the ordeal.
After only a few seconds of waiting, an orange earth pony mare with a short, reddish brown mane opened the door, mildly surprised by the unicorn’s appearance.
“Good morning, Miss Card Sharp,” Swift courteously said with a small bow. “Is Toil ‘N Trouble here?”
“Yeah,” the mare said as her pale green eyes scanned over the unicorn, curious as to what would bring the noblemare here at this hour, and to see Toil of all ponies.
“May I please come in to speak to her? I have something I need to say to her.” Without giving her a reply, Card Sharp turned and walked away from the door, giving Swift space to follow her.
Trotting past the stairs next to the door as they travelled down the hallway, ignoring the side door that led to the foyer, the two ponies soon made their way to the kitchen.
Around the table, Sandstorm was holding a clipboard with a checklist in her right wing and a pencil in her left. Hot Streak and Night Tulip were in the far corner of the room, standing by the sink, whispering to one another.
However, Swift’s gaze fell upon an odd sight at the kitchen table. Toil ‘N Trouble had a black stripe of cloth over her eyes with her mouth open while Hocus Pocus levitated a spoonful of a strange, pale orange sauce into her mouth.
“Hmm…” the green unicorn mare hummed as she savored the sauce she’d just taken. After a few seconds, she swallowed as a smirk formed on her muzzle. “Nice try, girls. That was an equal parts mixture of mayonnaise and ketchup.”
“And ten out of ten,” Sandstorm said before checking one final box on her little list. “You’ve got a good palette, Toil.”
“Hey Toil, you’ve got a visitor,” Card Sharp said as the blindfolded mare started to magically untie the cloth on her eyes. When she opened her eyes and saw who stood by Card Sharp, the satisfied look on her face quickly fell.
“Oh. It’s you.” Toil grimaced as she stepped out of her chair. “What do you want?”
“I… may I speak to you in private?” A hint of nervousness could be heard in Swiftsword’s voice as a dark glow appeared over Toil’s horn.
In a flash of nearly black purple light, Toil was now standing only half an inch from the noblemare. “If you’ve got something to say to me, especially in my house, then you can say it in front of the rest of my squad.” The green unicorn barked as she lightly jabbed Swift in her chest.
“Very well.” Swiftsword took a deep breath to compose herself. “I have come to apologize for my behavior to you in the past. I’ve treated you terribly due to your illegitimate status, proclaiming myself to be superior due to my legitimate noble breeding… It was wrong and I am deeply ashamed of my actions and wish to atone.”
A tense silence held in the air until Hocus Pocus coughed into her hoof. “Hey girls, I just remembered something I bought yesterday that I wanted to show you. It’s up in my room. Shall we go now?” The silver-coated unicorn quickly asked.
Tulip, Hotstreak, Sandstorm and Card Sharp muttered a rapid series of agreements and then quickly passed Swiftsword before Hocus Pocus teleported out of sight.
“Well… this is unexpected,” Toil said as she hopped into one of the chairs around the rounded table. “Did one of your squadmates put you up to this?”
“No. To my knowledge, they don’t even know I’m here,” Swift replied as she took a cautious step towards the older mare. “I chose to come to apologize on my own after learning how I treated you upset your brother so much.”
A quiet sigh came from Toil as she rubbed the bridge of her snout. “Well, there’s probably no point keeping things secret anymore since we’re not in Canterlot. So who told you about this?” She asked as her amber eyes bore into Swift’s vibrant blues.
“From what I overheard, Prismatic Radiance let it slip in front of Hat Trick.” Swift’s answer drew a light chuckle from the pea-soup green mare.
“Ironic. One of the few noblemares I trusted and didn’t treat me like shit is the one that blew my secret.” Once she had stopped laughing, Toil slipped out of her chair and trotted over to a door near the hallway entrance. “Well, since you said you want to make things up for me, how about you follow me to the basement?”
“Very well.” Swift swallowed as Toil opened the door and started to head down the darkened stairway.
As Toil was swallowed up by shadows, Swift stood at the top of the stairs, hearing wood creaking from within the black void.
Swift started to step onto one of the few visible steps when she heard a click in the distance and the dark stairway was suddenly lit up.
“What’s the matter? Afraid of the dark?” Toil’s voice rang out as Swift started to speed up her descent.
“Hardly. I simply didn’t wish to risk tripping and falling on my face,” Swift responded as she reached the bottom of the stairs, finding herself in one of the basement’s corners.
The room somewhat reminded Swift of some of the dungeons of the palace with their dark gray stone walls and few sources of natural light in the distant corners.
However, unlike the dungeons, this room’s floor was covered with a beige carpet. In one corner of the room was a collection of silver rings, smoke bombs, and a small desk with a few books. Another had a washer and dryer while the last one had a refrigerator that Toil was headed towards next to a table covered with empty beakers, vials and cups. In the middle of the room was something that had taken Barrier and Forge quite some time to assemble; an air hockey table.
“Well, if it weren’t for the fact you look the same as you did a thousand years ago, I’d say you look like somepony that’s had a nose job,” Toil said as she opened up the fridge. As Swift drew closer, she saw that the fridge, instead of being filled with food, was stuffed with a collection of odd liquids that she couldn’t identify and a single carton of milk.
“Might I ask when you learned to teleport?” Swift asked as she slowly started to close the gap between her and Toil as she searched through her collections of jars.
“Eh. About a month or so after I was able to walk again, so just a bit before Nightmare Night,” Toil said as she grabbed a jar in her aura before placing it back. “It's a useful spell, but I was barely able to keep down my lunch the first time I did so.”
“Well, that’s better than I did,” Swift replied as she came to a halt behind Toil. “May I ask a bit about your family? Both sides.”
Toil ceased her sorting before she set one of her jars back, closing the fridge and slowly turning to face Swift.
“Well, on my mother’s side, there’s not too much to say.” Swift could hear the restrained anger in her voice as she spoke. “Moonlight Radiance was a quim that married a stallion named Argent Coins for money. She hired a young stallion from Dream Valley named Viridian Forest as her gardener and because her husband was an old fart that could barely walk, much less satisfy a mare, decided to take her gardener’s virginity before firing him for firing off early and inside her.”
Swift winced at the rather graphic way she talked about her parents and conception.
“About two weeks later, Moonlight learns she’s pregnant with the gardener’s bastard and her husband died. She then used mourning to explain why she didn’t leave her manor for about a year.” Toil halted in her tale, taking a breath to steel herself.
“Eventually, I was born and when one of the maids asked what to name me, she said Sweet Tonic… but that’s just because she wanted some booze after giving birth.” The anger in Toil’s voice faded and was replaced with silence as her voice grew quieter. “She then told that maid to dump me off somewhere far away, just to make sure nopony knew she had a bastard.
“So that maid, Carrot Soup, wanting to make sure I was somewhere decent, headed off, taking me all the way to Hollow Shades, where she dropped me off at the Hollow Well Orphanage with a note saying my name was Sweet Tonic, that I was born on April thirtieth and that my mother was Moonlight Radiance in Canterlot.”
Toil paused as she opened the fridge once more and pulled out a jar out of the fridge. Looking closely, Swift saw what was in the jar was dozens of ruby reaper peppers in water.
Swiftsword swallowed as Toil drew closer with the jar carried in her dark aura.
“For fourteen years, I lived in Hollow Shades with no knowledge of any of my family until the mare who ran the place, Prudence, told me about the note, feeling I was old enough.” Toil came to a stop and placed the jar between the two of them. “After that, I packed up some supplies and headed off to Canterlot to meet her.”
“Considering the… colorful language you used to describe her, I assume it went terribly,” Swift said as Toil turned back towards the table and fridge.
“If by ‘terribly’, you mean she said my existence was a mistake caused by a commoner failing to scratch an itch and said a pony like me had no place amongst the nobles in Canterlot, yes!” Toil’s horn flared as she picked up one of the empty cups and pulled the milk carton from the fridge.
“Faust, I… I am sorry, Toil…” Swift felt as if she'd been punched in the stomach by what the witchy unicorn said. “I knew many nobles treated bastard family members poorly, but how could a mare say that to her own daughter?! It’s disgusting!”
“On that we can agree. She really hurt me,” Toil replied as she came to a halt in front of her. “Thankfully, Carrot Soup was willing to tell me about my father and my life vastly improved once they officially adopted me… Still, you hurt me too, Swiftsword, and I want to make you pay.”
“And it will involve these peppers, no doubt.” A bead of sweat formed on Swift’s head as Toil unscrewed the lid on the pepper jar.
“Yep,” Toil replied as she pulled two peppers from the jar with her magic. “I want to see you eat ten of these things. Chewed up for fifteen seconds each before swallowing.”
“Very well.” Swift nodded as the two peppers started to float in different directions towards each of them. “Might I ask why you’re taking one as well?”
“I’ve kinda grown fond of these things.” Toil shrugged before tossing her pepper into her mouth and started to chew. “That, and I’ve built up an immunity to these.”
“Right then. Here we go.” Swift’s horn glowed a pale blue as she pulled the other pepper from Toil’s aura and threw it into her mouth. Even after a few seconds of chewing, Swift felt a burning heat forming in her mouth. After a few seconds, the two mares swallowed and started to pull out their next set of peppers.
“Y’know, Moonlight Radiance being a heartless quim isn’t the first time the ruling class has screwed over my family.” Toil bit her pepper in two before tossing in the second half and spoke through her mouthful. “Ever heard of Mirror Shine?”
“Of course,” Swift said before she took her second pepper into her mouth and rapidly chewed it up, wishing to make the pain end as quickly as possible before swallowing. “She was a unicorn mare who was one of the first pioneers in magical shapeshifting, reshaping her body and facial features. She then served as Princess Platinum’s body double for over a decade. For her years of dedication and thwarting several assassination attempts, she was granted the title of marchioness.”
“Yeah, well, her service to Platinum ended when she asked the queen to bless her marriage.” Toil slowly picked up another pepper as she looked Swift in the eye. “She wanted to marry Mint Sprig, an earth pony and son of minister Minty the First.”
“I… I had not heard of that in my history lessons,” Swift replied as she and Toil both started to eat their third peppers.
“Well that’s because her request infuriated Queen Platinum,” Toil said before swallowing. “While living in peace with the other pony tribes was something she could live with, the thought of a noblemare marrying an earth pony commoner was far too much for her to stomach.”
Swift swallowed her pepper in surprise by what Toil had said, nearly coughing as she pulled her fourth pepper from the jar. “What happened then?” she hoarsely asked as she felt the burning growing worse and worse.
“She had her stripped of her title, spat on, disowned by her family and exiled from the capital,” Toil replied before she and Swift bit into their peppers at the same time. “Still, at least from what I can tell, Mirror Shine did love her new family, so that’s what matters.”
“Verily,” Swift said before she swallowed her fiery morsel, grabbing her fifth pepper with her hoof because the pain was growing too strong for her to concentrate her magic. “Family is something I value deeply… and I miss all of mine… I’m the last Falchion…”
Toil paused as she was about to bite into her fifth pepper. “I… I’m sorry, I didn’t know that… If it helps, I know what it’s like. I lost my father, my stepmother, my aunts, and my sisters.”
“Thank you,” Swift said before she and Toil bit into their peppers. The sky blue mare had reached the personal best she had managed to set in the Crystal Empire. The blazing feeling was great, but she gritted her teeth to persevere. “Still, I’m able to take solace knowing my dear Radiant Spell’s family legacy carried onto this day.”
“And I’m able to take some solace learning the quim perished in a house fire caused by her falling asleep with a lit cigarette,” Toil said as her magic pulled a sixth pepper towards her. “That was some of the best news I ever got since I wound up in this era.”
“At any rate, even with my great loss, I still have a family. The found family I’ve formed with my squadmates,” Swift said as she slowly brought the pepper into her mouth and started to chew. “Even though they may drive me mad sometimes, I treasure them.”
“Yeah, the girls here are like my sisters to me,” Toil said before pulling out another pepper and starting to chew it up. “I love them, but sometimes you just want to throttle ‘em, y’know?”
Swallowing, Swift felt the heat burning from the tip of her tongue all the way down to the bottom of her belly. Taking a steadying breath, she pulled her seventh pepper from the jar and held it out towards Toil. “To found family… and to fresh starts, hopefully.”
Toil lightly chuckled as she floated her eighth pepper to Swift’s and tapped them together. “To fresh starts and found families.”
As the two started on their next peppers, a thought occurred to the noblemare. “Might I ask… why you were… testing your palette?”
“Well, since I need a degree in order to work in a potion shop nowadays, I’ve had to do a lot of studying on modern potions,” Toil replied before she swallowed and grabbed her final pepper. “But I still want a job, so I thought I’ll try getting a job as a chef. To that end, I decided to test my palette.”
“In that case,” Swift fought back the urge to vomit as she reached for her ninth pepper. “I will speak with my employer and see if she can hire another chef.”
“Thanks, Swift. I appreciate it,” Toil said as she watched Swift bite down on her second-to-last pepper.
After a few more moments, Swift had eaten her final pepper, her mouth burning more intensely than she had ever felt before. She breathed heavily and tried to fan her tongue with a hoof.
Toil quickly poured a glass of milk for the noblemare and floated it to her. Swift quickly grabbed it and didn’t bother to maintain a regal image as she gulped down the substance as hurriedly as she could.
“Well, thanks for doing all this, Swift,” Toil said as she stood up and held out a foreleg for the noblemare, which she gratefully accepted and was pulled to her hooves.
“I am glad we were able to clear the air and we’ve had some reconciliation.” Swift replied before shaking Toil’s hoof. “Farewell, Toil. I wish you well.”
“You too, Swiftsword,” Toil said before patting Swift on the shoulder. “I’ll see you around.”
In a flash of blue, Swift vanished from in front of Toil and reappeared halfway up the stairs, trotting the rest of the way up.
Once Toil could no longer hear Swift’s hoofsteps, she quickly grabbed the milk carton and chugged down all of its contents.
“Oh, Faust… That was worse than breaking my legs!” Toil nearly exclaimed before letting out a belch with a small gout of fire, much to her shock.